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DENDROLOGY. 163 



annually at the approach of winter. The flowers, which open 

 in June, are small, not very conspicuous and disposed in bunches. 

 The fruit is in form of flat, crooked, pendulous pods, from twelve 

 to eighteen inches long, and of a reddish-brown color. The 

 pods contain hard, smooth, brown seeds, enveloped in a pulpy 

 substance, which, for a month after their maturity, is very sweet, 

 and which then becomes extremely sour. 



The perfect wood or heart of the sweet locust nearly resembles 

 that of the water locust, but its grain is coarser, and its pores 

 more open : in these respects it is more strikingly characterized 

 even than the wood of the red oak, when perfectly seasoned. 

 It is little esteemed in Kentucky, where it is more employed, 

 and consequently can be better appreciated, than elsewhere. It 

 is used neither by the carpenter nor the wheelwright : it is 

 sometimes taken by the farmers for rails to fence their .fields, but 

 only when they are unable to procure better wood. The only 

 destination for which it appears to be peculiarly adapted is the 

 forming of hedges, which would be rendered impenetrable by its 

 long thorns. Beer is sometimes made by fermenting the pulp of 

 the fruit while fresh ; but the practice is not general, as the apple 

 tree and peach tree, particularly the last, have become common, 

 and afford a much superior beverage. 



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